Jardine Backs Into Bout With Liddell

Keith Jardine hadn't heard of Houston Alexander. So when Alexander, who was making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, pummeled "The Dean of Mean" in UFC 71, Jardine thought he may have landed himself on the next undercard.

Instead, Jardine will go from losing a lower-tier bout to the chance to redeem himself against the biggest name in mixed martial arts -- Chuck Liddell-- in tonight's featured fight at UFC 76 in Anaheim, Calif.

After that loss, "I didn't know what was going to happen," Jardine said. "And honestly, when I got the call I thought, 'Oh, I am being joked with.' I thought it was a joke and I didn't believe it right away."

Jardine (12-4-1) isn't the only fighter trying to make amends tonight. Liddell (20-4) was knocked out in the first round of his last bout by the right hand of Quinton"Rampage" Jackson.

Liddell hasn't made any excuses since the loss, saying Jackson simply had the better fight. He watched a tape of the bout a few times to pick up any mistakes and then put it away for good.

"Right after it happened, I wanted another shot at it the next day," Liddell said. "Dwelling on losses is never healthy and worrying about what happened last time is not going to help you this time."

Welterweight Diego Sanchez (19-1) was undefeated before barely putting up a fight in a loss to Josh Koscheck in UFC 69. He will fight for the first time since the crushing loss, taking on Jon Fitch (18-2-1). Forrest Griffin (14-4) will battle former Pride fighter Mauricio"Shogun" Rua (16-2), who is making his much-anticipated UFC debut.

But it's Jardine's reputation that needs the most work tonight. He said he wasn't excited for his fight against Alexander, leading to his poor showing.

"In my heart, I believe I win that fight 99 times out of 100," Jardine said. "But that's the beauty of the sport. With little gloves, anything can happen."

-- Ryan Mink